Halloween 2013 - Wizard of Oz style

This summer my girls discovered the awesome-ness that is the original Wizard of Oz. The have been talking about what they wanted to be for Halloween ever since.My oldest, Maddie, always goes got the "good" character while my youngest, Abby, always chooses the "bad" character. Go figure. lol

 

For Dorothy I started with the Whimsy Couture Ruffled Circle Skirt for the bottom of the dress without the ruffle. I made an all white circle skirt with the ruffle for under the dress. The gingham that I used for the dress was pretty thin and I wanted it to have some weight for the 'twirl' factor.   

For the top of the dress I took her waist measurement, added about 3 inches for room and seam allowance and sewed it up the back. I made straps that start at the front waistband and go all the way to the back waistband. I tacked down the straps in the front and back of the bodice and the added the bodice to the circle skirt.

 

Once she tried it on I realized that the top of the bodice was super baggy because she is rounder in the middle than she is in the chest area. I didn't want it to be super fitted or have a zipper because I wanted her to be able to use it for dress up so I decided to shirr up both sides. Now the fit is PERFECT and she can slip it on and off easily.

We added some glittery red shoes from Target, pig tail braids, a basked from my Grandma, and one of Maddie's many stuffed dogs. I had a button up for her to wear but it is just too darn cold around here so a turtleneck and tights just had to do.

For my (not-so) Wicked Witch, I started with the Whimsy Couture Empire Dress as the top and just made a tube 2.5 times her waist for the bottom. Added about 8 yards of black tulle with my ruffler foot then attached it to the top. Black glittery shoes (because she just HAD to have new shoes like Maddie), a black turtleneck, tights and a witch hat headband completed the look. 

She was insistent that she had to have a green face and red lips like the Wicked Witch in the movie. All I could see was green face paint EVERYWHERE so we came to a compromise. I painted on a witch "mask" and then gave her the red lips that she wanted.

The day we took pictures was very chilly and super windy but they were troopers with the promise of hot chocolate.

I love that these girls wanted to go with an old movie as their costumes. Hopefully they will continue to go with a matching theme next year as well because it's just so darn cute!

The pictures above were after the Harvest party at the YMCA so I'll share what they looked like before the snacks and the wind took over. :)

My Dorothy.

My Wicked Witch. :)

Happy Halloween!!!

Mouse House Creations Pattern Review - Norah Dress

Hayley Crouse blogs over at Welcome to the Mouse House and she will be releasing her first on Monday. The pattern is called the Norah Dress and Tunic pattern. Was lucky enough to be among the group of testers for this pattern. The pattern is classic and adorable and extremely versatile. It starts at a size 12 months and goes all the way up to a size 12 in girls. That was a huge plus for me. It can be really difficult to find cute girls clothes that are bigger than a 6 or 8 in girls. 

My oldest daughter Madeline is 6 1/2 but she is very tall and a little big for her age. She is currently wearing RTW sizes 8-10. I still like for her to dress like a little girl instead of a tween so I make a lot of her clothes. That and I love to sew for my girls. ;)

As soon as I saw the sketches for the pattern I immediately though of the character Madeline. She is a favorite of my Madeline. I thought it would be super cute to make my Madeline a dress inspired my her favorite storybook character Madeline. 

I am still stuck in Auto mode with my new to me DSLR camera but I'm really excited about how well these pictures came out. 

The dress has a bit of a A-line to it, a cute peter pan collar and ties. There are options for sleeveless, short sleeve, or long sleeves as well as with or without the collar and ties. There were even testers that made their versions out of knit. This is such a versatile pattern that it will definitely be a staple in both of my girls' wardrobe. I made a different version for my youngest that I will post about as soon as the weather clears up around here. 

The bodice is partially lines and their is a button closure in the back. The length hits just above the knees and has an adorable vintage feel about it. 

When I was pregnant with Madeline I was determined to have a little girl named Madeline. We didn't find out her gender until the day after Christmas, but that Christmas my husband bought me this set of Madeline books because he believed I was really sure I was having a girl. 

Madeline is in the first grade and is all about reading......constantly. She sat and read this book cover to cover right in the middle of our mini shoot so I just took pictures while she read. 

At the end Madeline asked if she could choose some poses of her own so I went with it. She was so cute and serious about it. This one is my favorite that she came up with. 

And what is a photo shoot without my youngest saying, "what about a picture of me?" How could I resist right? 

I was given a free copy of this pattern in exchange for testing it. I am not compensated for my opinion. They are all my own. 

**Update: the pattern has been released and can be found here on Etsy or here on Craftys it is on sale through Tuesday night October 22, 2013 for only $7. Go! Run! Go get your copy!** 

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Back to school jumper remix

Have you ever started a project and for about until years later. Yes, I mean years. About 3.5 years ago I got it in my head that I was going to start sewing clothes for my oldest daughter. I had a need to create and she needed some new outfits. The only things I knew about sewing and my sewing machine was what I taught myself. I used to scour the craft store for the patterns marked "easy" because I was afraid to try anything different. With the McCall's M5684 jumper pattern and some adorable pink flannel material I started cutting our what was probably the 3rd or 4th dress I'd ever made Maddie. After I got the pieces cut I got side tracked and now fast forward 3.5 years and here we are. 

Two nights before the first day of school I was looking through all my patterns for something that I could make my Abby for the first day of preschool. I started opening old pattern totes and this pattern and cut out pieces caught my eye. I knew that Abby was about the same size now that Maddie was then so I decided to finally put the jumper together. I didn't mark any of the pieces so I got the pattern pieces back out to match them up and that's when I ran into a problem. 

NONE of the pieces matched. The cuts weren't straight and there were too many of some pieces and not enough of others. I started to put it back in the box when I though better. I've come a long way in the last 3.5 years with my sewing skills. I could figure this out. I set aside the instructions and set all the pieces in front of me along with the picture of the envelope as inspiration. 

 I started with pleating the front and back pieces then adding the outer side of the top piece. Next came the straps and then the lining piece. I just top stitched around the bodice from there. The buttons are supposed to be in the front, but the buttons I chose were bigger and the straps were wider than the ones pictured so I decided they looked better in the back. I didn't even sew up button holes, I just put the straps over the back where I wanted them and sewed the buttons through both pieces.  

 The dress turned out similar to the one in the picture. It's somewhere between a 4T and a 5T in size as well. I finished the inside a little bit nicer than the pattern instructed, but it's nice to see how far I've come since I started sewing for my little ladies. 

I'll leave you with Abby's version of a silly face. 

Have you ever had a sewing fail turn out better than expected? 

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